Cable and telephone service, can you afford to pay more?

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty ImagesSome seniors can not afford to pay for cell phones.

By Sy Larson
Oceanview resident Ruth Ann Wolford is one of thousands of seniors struggling to make ends meet. Wolford says she tries to stretch her fixed income to pay for utilities, property taxes, food and prescriptions. She also says that she often has to make a choice: “It’s either food or prescriptions. And sometimes its neither.”

Wolford asks legislators, “Could you live the way I’m living?” Because she cannot afford to pay a single penny more, Wolford relies on basic land-line telephone service to stay in touch with her family and to seek services.

If Senate Bill 2664 passes the Legislature and is signed into law, Wolford and all New Jersey consumers can expect their basic telephone bills to go up.

New Jersey senators are scheduled Monday to vote on S2664, a bill that proposes to deregulate telecommunications and would eliminate consumer protections for anyone with a telephone or cable service.

Twenty states have had deregulation bills pass the legislature; 17 of the 20 states have experienced rate increases. In Illinois, deregulation legislation was passed last year and AT&T increased rates up to 63 percent. Over the past few years, California’s basic residential rates were raised 50 percent.

The New Jersey bill will allow phone companies to cut services, dramatically increase rates and impose extra charges on your land-line. Additionally, cable companies will be able to bill you despite poor service or cable outages. The bill will allow cable companies to charge you even if the cable goes out for hours or days. A consumer would have little recourse to fight an incorrect bill or demand quality cable service.
S2664 also will wipe out rate protections that ensure affordable access to basic telephone service. Basic telephone service could be eliminated for hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents or only offered in more expensive packages, such as the “bundles” we sometimes hear about. This could be very challenging for two-thirds of New Jersey adults 50 and older who reported in a recent AARP survey that they have experienced a problem paying their household utilities.

For many consumers, a telephone is their only connection with the outside world. In fact, more than 70 percent of American households still have land-line telephone service. Without basic services, these citizens won’t be able to stay connected with their families or call a doctor or emergency services.

Basic land-line telephone service is also important for families who utilize a fax machine or an alarm system. Since most fax machines and alarm systems are run through a land-line telephone, any rate increases to a land-line would affect a consumer’s ability to afford the use of either item.

New Jerseyans have a vested interest to ensure to consumer protections are in place so that local telephone companies are regulated and provide high quality service, reliability, and fair and affordable rates.

If S2664 passes, New Jersey consumers can expect a similar fate of increased telephone rates. The passage of deregulation legislation almost always results in rate increases that the consumers have to pay.

Let your senator know you oppose S2664 because it could compromise your cable service. It could also jeopardize your telephone service and result in rate increases.

Fair and affordable telephone service is a basic necessity and New Jerseyans have a right to basic communication channels to stay connected and safe.Sy Larson is the New Jersey state president for the AARP.